The Gathering Island

The Gathering Island is an island downstream from WaterClan’s territory that’s about 1/3rd of the Clan’s territory size. The island is set right on the border of BrightClan and FrostClan on one side with DuskClan on the other. It is lush and lively, covered in grasses and various species of trees with willows being the most common. In the center is a large clearing where the Clans gather for the gathering.
The rivers surrounding the Gathering Island are quite shallow and littered with large rocks and branches, making it easy to cross either by wading through or navigating the debris.

The leaders sit atop the Soultree, the only tree in the clearing, which is a withered old oak with bowing branches and knobby roots. Deputies and medicine cats sit at the foot of the Soultree, barely elevated above the other gathering-goers.
To officially start the Gathering, leaders use the phrase “We gather here beneath the light of the full moon and Silverpelt, upon the island destined to be sacred ground from its birth, to share news and warning between Clans, under a peace treaty as SoulClan decrees. Let there be no fighting or disagreements, and let the Gathering begin."

GATHERING RULES:

- Nobody is to use this RP without permission from an administrator; this will stop the topic being clogged with irrelevant information.
- Leaders and/or deputies will roleplay clans arriving and leaving the Gathering. Do not RP unless your Clan has arrived!
-Don’t introduce subplots to the gathering. Please. PLEASE. Don’t suddenly have your cat die or have a fox appear or something, its ridiculous. No fighting either, unless it’s part of the plot, but friendly banter is allowed.

Dapplestar led her Clan onto the island, shuddering as the icy river current touched her paw. "I curse whoever found this island." she muttered, stepping onto a rock further above the river.

Sloeheart waded through the river, not wanting to test his luck on the rocks. Hailstreak slipped off a particularly smoothe rock and fell into the shallows, hissing in disgust.

Appleflurry waded through the water, following her leader, not really wanting a trip down embarrassment lane.
--
Batbreeze jumped across the rocks, trying hard to to fall - and failing - as she splashed into the water clumsily, leading to chuckles from her friends.
--
Leafberry followed the branches across the river, jumping up as the cold water tapped her paw and shivering.
--
Cinderwing "swam" through the water, half walking, grinning as she made her way to the island.

Ivyfeather bounded through the water, the coldness wasn't too bad but it made her paws cold when she reached the land. She stood there and waited for the other clans

Redstar waded through the cold water, cursing under her breath. She shook her fur out once she reached the land and sat at the roots of the Soultree, watching as FrostClan settled in as well.

Frostflame jumped through the water, trying not to get wet... whilst wading through the water. When she got to the island she dried off and sat down, waiting for Sunstep.
--
Rosetiger walked along a branch, nimbly leaping when there was a gap until she sat down, eagerly paying attention so she could describe it all to Lilystripes.
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Brownstep swam across the water messily, keeping his head up.
--
Snowfeather eyed the water with distaste. She slowly started walking, only to fall in and helping, thrashing about before pulling herself up onto the branch.
--
Brownstep sniggered, watching Snowfeather fall as he reached land.

Dewfall carefully padded over each stepping stone, flinching when the current made water splash over her paws. She bounded over to Frostflame once she got onto land and pressed her muzzle against Frostflame's. "Do you think BrightClan will do something bad?" she meowed nervously.

Darkfrost waded through the cold water right behind Redstar and in front of Snowfeather. When he got to the island, he pulled himself to the shore. Then he looked around and saw that Frostclan was also arriving.

Frostflame frowned. "I don't know, hopefully not." she sighed.

Dewfall shuffled her paws anxiously, trying to rid of the horrid things in her mind. "Why don't we talk to some FrostClan cats? It's the nice thing to do." she suggested, seeing Hailstrike and Sloeheart as the first to arrive with their leader.

"Yeah." Frostflame agreed, seeing Appleflurry and Batbreeze and slowly going over. "Uh, hi." she said.

Sandstar elegantly waded through the water and shook his fur as he got to the other side. He bunched his muscles and leaped, scrabbling onto the second lowest branch on the Soultree.

Cypresspaw followed, trying to settle herself comfortably at the roots of the tree.

Panthermask leaped from rock to rock until she got to the island, squeezing herself in between her clanmates. 

Redwing carefully avoided the water as he crossed the stream, reaching the other side and sitting down.

Lightstep nimbly leaped to the other side of the water, sitting down beside Redwing.

Hornetflame crossed the stream, struggling to not get his fluffy fur wet.

Peachpaw grumbled as the gushing current of the stream made the stepping stones slippery. She leaped awkwardly onto the shore and avoided Cypresspaw, instead padding over to (fill in here). "Hello! Enjoying the Gathering so far?" she meowed.

Cypresspaw's ears drooped as she saw Peachpaw deliberately avoid her. I didn't even tell him... she thought, hoping she could at least make conversation with the other medicine cats.

Gingerwolf wadded through the water and onto the ground of the island. She shook her fur, purring. "It was bigger last time.." She mewed, looking up at where the leaders were supposed to gather to announce things. She sighed, turning to look for someone to talk to.

Rainwing wadded through the water and took her place near the other senior warriors of WaterClan


Sparkfeather eagerly leaped through the water. She looked for cats to talk too

"Hey, Sparkfeather!" Gingerwolf exclaimed, padding up to her. "What do you think's gonna happen this gathering? It should be really intense!" She said curiously.

Ivorystar stopped her group of warriors on their bank of the river, scenting WaterClan and FrostClan on the air and smirking a little. Hm. Curious. "Come on," she called to her Clan, moving to the stepping stones and leaping easily from one to the other.

"Hi Gingerwolf!" Sparkfeather said. "I honestly don't know. I just know that it's really tense and none of the leaders seem to like eachother." Sparkfeather confessed

Dapplestar clambered atop Redstar's branch of the Soultree, her posture friendly but her eyes remanning conniving and judgmental as usual.
"Have you made your decision yet?" she purred, stalking closer to the FireClan leader with a still relaxed yet oddly on edge posture.

Hailstreak blinked in the direction of Dewfall, signaling a greeting to the approaching cat.
"Hello!" Sloeheart mewed, "How are things going in your Clan?"

Birchstripe stretched his neck and searched briefly for his sister in the crowd, then lowered back down and flopped down with a sigh.

Rippleshade looked around, his expression odd. "There aren't any apprentices aside from WaterClan." he whispered to Rainpaw, hackles rising. Is this a battle in disguise?


--

Jasperheart hopped uneasily across the stone, her pads stinging from the cold frost coating them and the jagged edges some of the larger ones had.

Aukletwing waded through the water, not wanting to try her luck at the stepping stones.

"Yeah. I noticed that. It's strange." Rainpaw said. She shrunk down, feeling like the tiniest kit in the nursery.

Littlelily walked in after Redstar. She looked around, wondering if there was any other queens nearby.

Russetstar finally arrived, stepping delicately across the stones and avoiding the water way. He nodded his head to his clan and made his way to the tree, couching and leaping onto the trunk. Russetstar clawed his  way up to one of the higher up branches and looked down at the uneasy cats.
~
Nightpelt sat beneath Redstar's branch at the root of  the tree where the deputies went.
~
Thornsplash joined the other deputies at the roots and sat down, glancing suspiciously at the other deputies.
~
Sunstep padded over and sat down with Frostflame.
~
Eagleblaze and Tigerpounce sat down at the Brightclan area.
~
Skybreeze looked around wildly, and finally caught site of Nightpelt, her brother. She grinned at him, hoping to make eye contact.
~
Zebrapaw looked around, her fur bristling slightly in uneasiness at all the warriors around. "Where in Starclan are the other apprentices..." She muttered, frowning.

Mistyheart settled herself next to Nightpelt, looking over the clans and noticing WaterClan was the only one to bring apprentices.

Redstar tossed her head back to Dapplestar, the fur on her neck rising. "No, not yet." she meowed deliberately.

Nightfoot looked down at Zebrapaw, flattening his ears. "You're right," he muttered. "Why haven't they brought apprentices?"

OOC: I was so late.

IC: Nightheart, being a little behind, stepped along the stones carefully. Only one of her paws got wet. She groaned, but continued until she finally padded onto the island.

"I'll give you more time to think on it." Dapplestar mewed eerily, then hopped back to her branch as DuskClan entered the clearing.

"I don't like this." Rippleshade mewed, scanning over the clearing and spotting Nightfoot and Zebrapaw. "C'mon." he muttered to Rainpaw, getting up and shuffling through the crowd towards the other two.

Birchstripe uneasily took a seat near a few WaterClan cats, not really wanting to start conversation but unsure of what else to do.

--

Tawnysky shook out her fur as she left the river and trotted towards some BrightClan cats, wanting to socialize but a bit uneasy of the other Clans.

Jasperheart trotted into the clearing and sat down besides Eagleblaze and Tigerpounce nervously.
Aukletwing padded to where most of the BrightClan and DuskCClan cats had gathered and sat down, waiting for the gathering to start

Redstar dug her claws into the roots of the Soultree before scrabbling up onto the highest branch, watching as DuskClan arrived to the clearing.

Pebblesplash sat next to Bitternfrost, looking around wildly as DuskClan arrived.

-

Daisy padded across the stepping stones, swaying uneasily beside Gingerpatch as she approached a darkened spot beneath some overhanging vines in the corner of the clearing.

Daisy wandered over to Lightstep, not feeling safe talking to cats of other Clans. "Greetings," she meowed.

Gingerpatch groomed her fur vigorously, observing as the cats began to chatter among themselves.

Hollyshade padded over to the medicine cats, her tail curled nervously. "I have some news about Morningshine, DuskClan's fellow medicine cat." she meowed, curling her lip.

Littleflower leaped from each stepping stone, thankfully not getting her paws wet. She sat down in the center of the clearing, humming quietly to herself.

"BrightClan is probably the one that would break it," Salmonpelt growled from behind Gingerwolf. "They've teamed up with DuskClan, I see."

Lightstep dipped his head to Daisy. "Hello. How are you?" he asked.

"Nightfoot!" Rippleshade whispered, stepping in besides his higher-ranking Clanmate nervously. "Why are we the only ones with apprentices? Should we make them leave? What's going on?"

OOC: Wait Daisy is Soraflight at this gathering? (she's the medcat for FireClan)

Lilyshadow smiled at gingerwolf. She looked around for someone to chat with.


Littlelily smiled around. She couldn't see any queens.

Bluefeather spotted Littlelily, and padded up to her. "FireClan?" She mewed, smiling.

Duskfur snorted, padding over to a group of warriors.

Littlelily nodded. "What clan are you?" She was not familiar with this cat.

Bluefeather smiled. "DuskClan, but I won't do anything. Last gathering I came to I was a young warrior. I see you're expecting?" She said, sniffing Littlelily's stomach.

Littlelily nodded. "Found out this morning."

Bluefeather sighed. "I already have two litters." She laughed.

Nightheart looked around the island. She licked her paw, and began padding over to the FrostClan warriors. Mumbling to herself.

Duskfur yawned, starting to padd Over to Nightheart. "Hm? I thought I saw you last time. Sheesh." He mumbled, nudging her.

Nightheart flipped around. "Agh!" She hissed, frightened by Duskfur. "Oh, hello, and no, I wasn't here last time. It's my first time here." She meowed, having a bit of sass in her.

Dapplestar nodded to Sandstar with a grin, then looked over at Ivorystar and Russetstar. "Ready to start?" she mewed in a slick, hostile voice.

Sparkfeather looked around for some other clan cats to talk too.


"Where are the other apprentices, Rippleshade?" Rainpaw asked. I thought every clan brought them


OOC what clans are here already?

Nightfoot turned at Rippleshade's remark. "I'm quite frankly not sure, Rippleshade." he meowed, flattening his ears.

OOC: No, Silversky is here but not Soraflight @Leo

Redstar nodded to Dapplestar. She shook out her fur and stood proud on her branch. "We gather here beneath the light of the full moon and Silverpelt, upon the island destined to be sacred ground from its birth, to share news and warning between Clans, under a peace treaty as SoulClan decrees. Let there be no fighting or disagreements, and let the Gathering begin." she called.

Ivyfeather padded over to where the medicine cat was supposed to go and sat down and looked up at the leaders on the tree

Ivorystar led BrightClan into the clearing, head held high and tail curled at the top.

Icebreeze followed Ivorystar into the gathering area. She shrank down. This was her 2nd gathering as a warrior and she still felt lost

Skyheart leaped across the stream. She used to be Echoclan and now, today, she was fully BrightClan